Trivia / The Letters

• Actor-Inspired Element:
  • Kathleen Warner Yeates recommended Ann Russell to play her mother.
  • Some scenes were given only outlines, allowing the actors to improvise and devise conversations and actions based off their own ideas.
• Harpo Does Something Funny: For the scenes with Sam's daughters, Robbie Walsh and Mary Murray (who is also an acting coach) took turns telling the child actresses to do certain things in the spot.
• I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: Kathleen Warner Yeates, who plays Mary, had been Robbie Walsh's acting tutor and he specifically wanted to work with her.
• Method Acting: Sarah Carroll, Kathleen Warner Yeates and Ann Russell largely remained in character whenever they were on set. Sarah in particular kept to herself to properly get into Cliona's Shrinking Violet persona.
• Playing Against Type: John Connors often plays brutes or gangsters, and here shows up as Sam's Nice Guy brother Anthony.
• Playing with Character Type: Robbie Walsh is still a Jerkass but, rather than being a Dublin Skanger, he's a sleazy politician who relies on Gaslighting rather than brute force.
• Production Posse: Sarah Carroll had previously appeared in Robbie Walsh's film Eden. Philip McCrory was producer, as he has been on all of Robbie Walsh's films.
• Real-Life Relative: Three of Sam's daughters are played by Robbie Walsh's nieces. The fourth is played by the daughter of one of the producers.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The Minister was supposed to be played by "a well known actor" who dropped out the day before filming, so Robbie Walsh played the role himself.
  • Sarah Carroll was originally wanted for the role of Sam, but she lobbied to play Cliona instead after the original actress dropped out.
  • A scene was scripted between Anthony and Cliona, continuing the theme of Anthony being the only character to interact with all three women. John Connors wasn't available on the day, so it had to be scrapped.
  • Early ideas for Cliona were to have her be an avid runner and working out from home, and the baths she takes would be after these workouts. Robbie Walsh soon realised that the bathtub scenes were enough on their own, and dropped the workouts from the script.
  • Robbie Walsh toyed with the idea of having a scene in which Sam, Mary and Cliona were in the waiting room at a doctor's office - making this the only time in which they'd all be together. But he ultimately preferred to keep each story separate.

---